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Born in the city of Khalkhal in Ardabil Province, “There is no electric, no school, no hospital, nothing, and in winter time when the snow comes heavy all the roads are closed so we don’t have access to the big city. If we wanted to go to the big city, we have to travel seven hours, eight hours to reach there and the big city was more of a big village. It was that kind of lifestyle.”

The current age of the Iranian has been reported as anything from 35 to 40, but it’s difficult for MMA websites or organizations to accurately report how old Shalorus is when he can’t actually answer the question himself. “I was born in my own house, not in hospital, so no paper, no nothing and I have two brothers older than me. One of them he passed away, so they give his birth certificate to me. I don't know how old I am, but I think I am around 35 because my brother used to be able to hold me and carry me around, but I am older than him on my birth certificate.”

Not only did the place where Shalorus spent his formative years lack modern facilities and infrastructure, but he also had to endure some harsh and inhospitable weather as his family etched out a living by herding sheep. “I grew up on a big, big mountain in north Iran, very close to Azerbaijan and the Russian border and sometimes you would see snow there for 12 months. There was snow all the time. We were shepherds and we had maybe 2,000 sheep. We built our own house with my family and my uncle and a couple of relatives, we lived together and herded sheep.”

Kamal is a decorated wrestler, representing Great Britain in an Olympic Qualification tournament where he placed 8th.

He has also been very competitive in grappling tournaments. He has a notable win over Joachim Hansen in the European Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Qualifiers.[1]

Shalorus might have remained in this rural existence for his entire life had it not been for his aptitude for wrestling. He discovered during his school days that he excelled at this sport and it ultimately provided him with a ticket out of Iran. “I was a good wrestler. When I competed with junior national team, I came first and the Turkey national team they brought me as a sparring partner. After that I went to Greece and I met the UK team there and they invited me to come to England to train with them, this happened in 1997 when I was 21 or 22.”[2]

Although he would never compete there, it was in England that Shalorus first started to transition into mixed martial arts as local fighters sought him out for his wrestling knowledge and in return started to school him in the other aspects of the game. “Lee Murray was my good friend in England, he helped me a lot and Alex Reid. I used to teach them wrestling and they said ‘Kamal you can be good in fighting.' I moved to Texas because my girlfriend is from Texas and we moved there. My first fight I fought welterweight for the King of Combat title against a guy who had around 12 wins and was an All-American wrestler and I knocked him down after 75 seconds.”

Kamal is a partner in (and official grappling instructor for) the American Combat Association and he certifies MMA schools in his fighting system SICS and conducts seminars focused on catch wrestling through the ACA.[5]

Kamal captured the welterweight title in the Austin Texas MMA promotion King of Kombat in April 2008, still undefeated. He then won the welterweight title in the Supreme Warrior Challenge, preparing his way into the WEC.

He was scheduled to make his WEC debut against Alex Karalexis on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44, but a broken hand forced Karalexis off the card.[6] Karalexis was replaced by WEC newcomer Will Kerr.[7] Shalorus defeated Kerr via TKO in the very first round.[8]

Shalorus defeated previously unbeaten Dave Jansen via unanimous decision on January 10, 2010 at WEC 46. Shalorus showed impressive striking, takedown offense and defense. It was also noted, by Frank Mir, that Shalorus would be a force to be reckoned with in the future.[9]

Shalorus was expected to face former WEC Lightweight ChampionJamie Varner on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48,[10] but Shalorus was forced off of the card with an injury.[11] Varner/Shalorus took place on June 20, 2010 at WEC 49.[12] The fight ended in a split draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28), with Shalorus being deducted one point for multiple groin shots.

Kamal Shalorus was expected to face Bart Palaszewski on November 11, 2010 at WEC 52,[13] but the bout was moved to WEC 53 after Shalorus reinjured his hand that was broken during the bout with Varner.[14] Shalorus won the fight via split decision.

Nearly a year after being released from the UFC, Shalorus signed with the Asia's biggest MMA promotion, ONE FC promotion. He made his promotional debut against Eduard Folayang at ONE Fighting Championship 9 on May 31, 2013 and won the fight via unanimous decision.